Tucked behind the lobby of The Frederick Hotel — and with its own, rather subtle entrance on Chambers — is Primo’s, an Art Deco-themed lounge featuring late-night comfort food, specialty cocktails and yards of jewel-toned velvet.

Owner Aisa Shelley, 37, also owns Mr. Fong’s — at one point the “it” bar for fashion insiders — and Oliver Coffee — which serves up CBD oil specialty drinks — in Chinatown/Two Bridges. Oliver Coffee is also the home of Import News, which sells curated quirky snacks and magazines from around the globe. But wait, there’s more. Import News is a product of There (as in knock, knock, who is…), a content and branding company founded by Shelley’s partners from Oliver Coffee. It’s a tangled web of marketed coolness.

Back to Primo’s: the interiors were designed by Camilla Deterre, who also did MIMI on Sullivan Street, and it won’t be a surprise to learn she is a fan of Ettore Sottsass. There’s murals, mirrors and banquettes, and a hidden back room with a DJ booth behind a Deco-inscribed door.

The menu includes roasted beets, an antipasto tower and midnight pasta carbonara. The muffuletta — the New Orleans classic sandwich made with salami and provolone on, until recently, custom-made bread from Arcade Bakery — was rated by Grub Street as “the absolute best.” And maybe this is the ultimate compliment: “If Harry’s Bar did a muffuletta, this is what it would look like.”

NB: Has all the makings for a great Ladies Night Out.

Primo’s
129 Chambers
https://www.primostribeca.com/
917-512-3432
Monday 5p to midnight
Tuesday and Wednesday 3p – 1a
Thursday – Saturday 3p – 2a
Closed Sunday

 

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Thank you @nytimes & @jortved for the fun piece about our v cool patrons. ☕️ ???? ????????

A post shared by Oliver Coffee (@oliver_coffee_nyc) on May 31, 2017 at 7:51am PDT